


Communication!  It Saves Brain Cells!

by Zetal (Rodinia)



Series: YoI Ships Bingo [4]
Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Canon Divergence, Communication, M/M, Sochi banquet, Such a Useful Thing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-28
Updated: 2017-07-28
Packaged: 2018-12-07 22:00:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,366
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11632782
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rodinia/pseuds/Zetal
Summary: Yuuri's just moved home from America, and is contemplating retirement after a humiliating pair of crushing defeats.Until Viktor shows up and announces he's going to be Yuuri's coach.(First meeting in canon, if Yuuri had remembered how to use his words.)





	Communication!  It Saves Brain Cells!

**Author's Note:**

> Written for YoI Ships Bingo  
> Square: Viktor/Yuuri
> 
> [Prompt:](https://hellsdemonictrinity.tumblr.com/post/162834261565/angstfluff-prompt-list-part-2) "What are you doing here?"

There was no way. This couldn’t be Makkachin herself, could it? “Looks just like our Viktor, eh? His owner’s a new guest, some good-looking foreigner. He’s in the spring right now.”

Good-looking foreigner… he’d have thought his dad would recognize Viktor Nikiforov, but maybe not. If this was Makkachin, then that good-looking foreigner was Viktor, and what on earth would Viktor be doing in the hot springs at Yu-Topia? Yuuri had to know. He gently moved Makkachin off of him and started scrambling for the springs.

There was no mistaking him. Viktor Nikiforov was in the hot spring at Yu-Topia. “Viktor? What are you doing here?”

Viktor stood up. Naked. So very naked. He didn’t seem to mind a bit. “Hello, Yuuri! Starting today, I’m going to be your new coach. You’re going to make it back to the Grand Prix Finals – and this time, you’re going to win!” He winked.

Yuuri was grateful for the snow shovel still in his hand. Without it, he was sure he’d have fallen over. “What?”

Viktor tilted his head. “I’m here to coach you?”

So he had heard that right. “What about your skating?”

“Oh, don’t worry about that. I’m taking a year off. Possibly retiring, if Coach Yakov’s right and I won’t be able to come back. I’d been thinking about it for a while, your video was just the final straw. The main thing stopping me was that I’ve never known anything but the ice, and I didn’t know what I would do with myself with all the free time! Coaching you will give me a good challenge, keep me from being bored, and make it that much easier to come back because I’ll be staying in shape.”

“My… video? What are you talking about?”

“ _Stammi Vicino._ I must say, that was a very effective way of getting my attention and reminding me about your invitation! A phone call would have worked just fine, though.”

“My invitation? What? How was I supposed to call you, I don’t have your phone number, why would…” Yuuri clapped a hand over his mouth before he could embarrass himself further. Then the first part registered, embarrassing him further. “Oh my god, you saw the video. I didn’t… I had no idea it was being recorded, my friends’ daughters are scary good with technology and social media, that was just supposed to be for an old friend and rinkmate. I didn’t even know it had been recorded until it had gone viral…”

“Oh. I just assumed it was your way of reminding me.” Viktor stared at Yuuri. “The invitation from the banquet in Sochi?”

“The one I spent in the corner hiding and drinking entirely too much champagne?”

Viktor smirked. “Well, until you’d had enough champagne to stop hiding, anyway. One of the best nights of my life. Certainly the best banquet I’ve ever attended!”

“Huh?”

“Don’t you…” Viktor’s eyes widened and his eyebrows hit his hairline. “You don’t remember. All that champagne… you don’t remember that night at all, do you.”

“Nothing but champagne and then waking up with my head killing me… what did I do?”

Viktor’s face lit up. That damned heart smile was even more luminous and mesmerizing in person. This was just not fair. “You challenged Yuri Plisetsky to a dance contest, which you won, then took Chris up on his challenge, which you won again, and then you challenged me. You invited me to come out here if you won, and asked me to be your coach.”

“But… I didn’t win.” There was no way he won a dance contest against Viktor Nikiforov. Or Christophe Giacometti. Yuri Plisetsky, maybe, but Yuri was fourteen years old. It wasn’t exactly a fair fight.

Viktor laughed. “Oh, I don’t know. We didn’t exactly make it much of a contest. We just danced together until they finally kicked everyone out of the banquet, which was well out of control at that point. I don’t have pictures, but I know Chris and Yuri do, I can get them to send them. Come on, I do have pictures of you dancing with Chris and Yuri, you can look at those at least.” Viktor stepped out of the hot spring, which reminded Yuuri of the other reason he was fully expecting this to turn out to be the weirdest dream of his life.

Viktor fired off a couple texts and then handed his phone to Yuuri. The danceoff against Yuri Plisetsky… well, it wasn’t too bad aside from how flushed and clearly drunk he was, and how he was challenging a fourteen-year-old to a danceoff. Chris, on the other hand… Yuuri squeaked out, “You didn’t tell me it was on a pole! Where did the pole even come from?”

“It’s Christophe. I learned long ago not to ask questions I don’t know that I want the answers to.”

Yuuri handed the phone back to Viktor. “Speaking of Christophe, he just responded to your text.”

Viktor took it and smiled. “He’s sent the pictures! Good. Ooo, I didn’t know he took video…”

“You’re excited about that?”

“I did mention that it was one of the best nights of my life? Pictures, I’d seen. Video, no.” Viktor started downloading. “Oh, and here’s Yuri… what’s he doing awake? Aside from wondering when I was going to get around to asking him for these, apparently.”

Yuuri finally found the courage to ask while they waited for the pictures from Chris and Yuri to download. “Are you seriously here to coach me, or is this some sort of elaborate prank?”

Viktor looked up from his phone. “Well, coaching you wasn’t the only reason I came here, but I am serious about it. I’ve spent the last few months, when I wasn’t on the ice myself, watching every video I could find of you. You should have been on that podium with me and Chris. You should have been on a lot of podiums. I have no idea what Celestino wasn’t doing for you, but I’d like to try to unlock your potential.”

“What’s the other reason you came here?”

“You stole my heart at the banquet. When you didn’t call, I just assumed you didn’t feel the same thing, but now I’m thinking you probably deleted my number assuming someone was pulling a prank? I know there are people out there using me as a catfish. But then that video… I know that routine, but no one ever seemed to grasp its actual meaning, that for once I was skating my heart instead of a program. I could feel you reaching back to me in that video. Once again, I may have read something into it that wasn’t there, but I know you’re a fan. Oh! Speaking of being a fan…” Viktor pulled up a photo on his phone. “I don’t know why you walked away, but we did end up taking that commemorative photo!”

Yuuri buried his face in his hands. “Okay, I was drunk, I do stupid things when I’m drunk. Why is _your_ tie on your head?” It was easier to deal with that than Viktor… what, confessing his love? Was this really what it sounded like?

“Well, when people dance together, it’s normal for them to wear coordinated outfits! It seemed like the easiest way, given what we had to work with.”

“Oh.” Yuuri stared at the photo. If he ignored the embarrassment factor… it did look like two guys in the middle of some sort of romantic adventure. “So you came out here to coach me and… what, steal your heart back?”

“I’ve had it pointed out repeatedly enough to make it sink in even to me that one magical night doesn’t mean I actually know you at all, and I don’t know how long you’ve been my fan, but you don’t know me either, not really. I’m hoping that once we’ve fixed both of those, it won’t matter that you don’t remember the banquet, you’ll love me anyway.”

Yuuri’s brain broke. Dealing with the embarrassment of fainting in front of Viktor was easier than dealing with reality at the moment. He could only hope things made more sense when he woke up.

**Author's Note:**

> I use a random number generator to match squares and prompts. When I saw what I'd gotten, I couldn't stop giggling for a looooong time. XD


End file.
